Chaves will be looking to get their 2023-24 Portuguese Primeira Liga campaign up and running when they play host to Estrela Amadora at the Estsdio Municipal Eng. Manuel Branco Teixeira on Sunday.
Off the back of last season's seventh-placed finish, the hosts have kicked off the new campaign with five defeats in their opening five matches and will come into the weekend desperate to stop the rot.
Match preview
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Chaves were left empty handed once again as they suffered a 4-1 hammering against Boavista when the sides squared off at the Estadio do Bessa last Monday.
Boavista raced into a commanding four-goal lead inside the opening 23 minutes courtesy of goals from Tiago Morais, Salvador Agra and a brace from Robert Bozenik before Paulo Vitor pulled one back in the 71st minute.
With that result, Chaves have now lost each of their six competitive matches this season, including a penalty-shootout defeat against AVS Futebol in the opening round of the Taca da Liga qualifiers on July 22.
The Flavienses, who missed out on European football by just one place last season, have now failed to pick up any points from their first five Primeira Liga matches, a run which has seen Jose Gomes relieved of his role as head coach.
Chaves' underwhelming start to the season has been in no small part owing to their frailties at the defensive end of the pitch, where they have already conceded 17 goals, seven more than any other side in the division.
Estrela Amadora, on the other hand, were sent crashing back to earth last Friday when they fell to a 1-0 defeat against high-flying Porto side at the Estadio Jose Gomes.
After falling behind to a 29th-minute strike from experienced forward Mehdi Taremi, Estrela failed to find a way back into the game as the Dragoes held on to secure their fourth win in five league matches.
Prior to that, Sergio Vieira's men picked up their first win of the season on August 25, when they beat Estoril Praia 2-1 to end their two-match losing streak, one week before playing out a 1-1 draw with Portimonense.
Having secured promotion to the top flight last season courtesy of a third-placed finish in the Segunda Liga, Estrela have picked up four points from the first 15 available to sit 15th in the Primeira Liga standings, level on points with Vizela and Moreirense.
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Team News
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Chaves will take to the pitch without the services of experienced midfielder Ruben Lameiras, who was absent from Monday's game against Boavista through a knee injury.
In his absence, newly-signed Ruben Ribeiro was handed his debut and the former Hatayspor forward should team up with Spanish striker Hector Hernandez up top.
Vitor was forced off with a late injury against Boavista and is a major doubt for this weekend's clash, meaning that Jo Batista could be handed his first start of the season.
Estrela, on the other hand, head into the weekend with a clean bill of health and no suspension concerns, giving Vieira the luxury of a full-strength squad at his disposal.
That said, Miguel Lopes, Kialonda Gaspar and Mansur should form the back three after their impressive display against Porto last time out, while we expect a front three of Pereira Martins, Ronaldo Tavares and Leo Jaba.
Chaves possible starting lineup:
Souza; Correia, Vitoria, Rodrigues, Langa; Abass, Phete, Nwakali; Ribeiro, Batista, Hernandez
Estrela Amadora possible starting lineup:
Brigido; Lopes, Gaspar, Mansur; Santos, Cordeiro, Souza, Reis; Martins, Tavares, Jaba
We say: Chaves 2-1 Estrela Amadora
Chaves have endured a horror start to the new campaign and will head into the weekend looking to pick up a morale-boosting result. However, the Flavienses take on an inexperienced Estrela side who have struggled for results on the road and we fancy them snapping their losing streak this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
